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Thursday, January 30, 2014

The Sword of Alexander

The Sword of Alexander (Abjuration/Curses, Cost, Per Scenario, RequiresThe Eye of the Nexus, Corrupting): Slipknots are pure imminences that suture together different locations in space-time. Nexialists use The Sword of Alexander to collapse a slipknot for a determinate period of time.

The formula can be used either defensively (to close a slipknot "behind" a ship exiting a slipknot) or offensively, to collapse the space-time suture around a vessel at the exact moment the ship enters the slipknot. The latter use causes a mishap for the ship entering the slipknot. Such a use of the formula is invariably Corrupting.

To cast The Sword of Alexander, the caster makes a WIS roll: at +2, the suture closes for one day. For each additional increment of effort past +2, use The Time Table to determine the duration of time for which the slipknot is closed.

It goes without saying that the use of this formula is frowned upon by the authorities. It can cause severe economic damage - even loss of life - to systems dependent on the slipknot network for their economic well-being. On more than one occasion, local closures have led to spontaneous pogroms against members of the Nexialist Order. The Order itself is extremely circumspect in teaching this formula to its members. Only the most faithful and trustworthy Nexialists have the opportunity to learn it.

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"In your day you have learnt to calculate something of the magnitudes of space and time. But to grasp my theme in its true proportions, it is necessary to do more than calculate. It is necessary to brood upon these magnitudes, to draw out the mind toward them, to feel the littleness of your here and now, and of the moment of civilization you call history." - Olaf Stapledon